"Canada's No. 1 prospect" changed his Top 5 a bit, but one team remains in contention for Will Riley: the Arizona Wildcats. The decision will be made on Sunday, June 23, per his Instagram.
Riley is a member of the Class of 2025, but he reportedly may reclassify to this year's recruiting cycle. Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd pounced early, hosting Riley for an official visit back on Friday, March 1, before the season had concluded.
He updated his Top 5 following a trio of official visits last week to include Illinois — who he visited with on Monday, June 3, and received a subsequent crystal ball prediction for — over Arkansas. Kentucky has also been strongly in the mix after hosting him on Tuesday, June 4, and Alabama made the final cut after hosting him on Thursday, June 6.
Pros:
If Riley takes an unorthodox route and decides not to reclassify, he could be a real asset for Arizona in the 2025-26 season. As a wing, he would likely play the role that rising sophomore KJ Lewis will occupy in the 2024-25 season.
With Lewis and fellow guards Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley entering the 2024 NBA Draft before rescinding their names, there might be a draft exodus after the trio runs it back one more time. Love will be out of eligibility, while Lewis and Bradley could massively improve their NBA draft stocks with a full season of starter minutes.
Also, Tommy Lloyd has proven to be a recruiting wizard regarding prospects who hail from other countries. Just since taking over at Arizona, he has recruited players to Tucson from Lithuania, Estonia, Serbia, England, Spain, France, and Mali, and he's currently in the mix for Beninese forward Tounde Yessoufou.
Cons:
If Riley follows the expected path and reclassifies, Arizona doesn't need his services yet. Lewis will be the firmly-entrenched starter at the wing, and he'll have to compete with either highly-touted incoming freshman and McDonald's All-American Carter Bryant or extremely productive Campbell transfer Anthony Dell'Orso for the backup job.
Having two high-four/low-five-star prospects competing for the same backup role sounds strange in and of itself, but factor in the incoming transfer to make it a three-way battle and Lloyd's record of using them makes it downright outlandish.
If Riley reclassifies and commits to Arizona anyway, the staff is running the risk of too many cooks being in the kitchen. Even if he doesn't and Arizona lands both Riley and Yessoufou, there would again be three players gunning for the same role. For that reason, the Wildcats will likely be on the outside looking in — and frankly, that's completely fine.
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